Emmalyn's Birth Story

On Friday, 10/31 (Halloween!), I had a growth checking ultrasound in Pullman. They measured her size to be about 8lb8oz, which was quite large for 38w4d. They measured my amniotic fluid to be about 6.36 sqcm (5 is a low number when they would start thinking of inducing). There are a few reasons why fluid can be low. The baby may be under a bit of stress so could be drinking more of it, and outputting (peeing) less. I could have had a very tiny leak in my water. They didn't know for sure though, so the doctor asked if I would like to be induced on Monday (11/3) since she was already measuring larger and my fluid was borderline low. I said I really wanted to avoid induction and he said he would order another ultrasound and an NST (non-stress test to look at how baby's heart rate is and how my contractions are). I liked that idea much more than going straight to induction.

The next day (Saturday evening), I got a splitting headache. I never get headaches. Ever. So I took a Tylenol, and went to bed. I woke up the next morning with the headache, took another Tylenol, and set my timer for a half hour. The headache wasn't completely gone, so I called the hospital to ask if I should come in and get checked out for preeclampsia, since this headache was so sudden and painful. They said yes, and we went in. My blood pressure was a little high, but not high enough to worry anyone, so we were sent home (no preeclampsia thank goodness).

Monday morning, my headache was still hanging around. Jonathan stayed home from work to help me out with Joey. I had called my mom the night before, and told her to pack her bag in case I went into labor Sunday night (I really thought I was going to). She called Monday morning and asked if I wanted her to come up since she took the day off, since she was too excited to sleep....:( She came up at around noon, and made all of us an early dinner, and then was going to watch Joey for my 4:30pm appointment.

We went to our appointment, and the NST went really well. Then the ultrasound tech came in and did the ultrasound (I knew the ultrasound tech from a long time ago!). She went to go tell the nurse the results (she couldn't tell us). A half hour went by and we still hadn't heard anything. Jonathan went to go ask what was going on. He came back and told me the doctor wanted to induce me that night! I started crying, since I knew that if there was a need for an induction, they usually let you go home, get your stuff, and come in the next morning, so needing one THAT NIGHT freaked me out.

The nurse finally came in, and told me that my fluid was a 2.2. A drop of more than 4 sqcm in less than 4 days was a lot, and the baby was ready to be born (I was 39 weeks on Monday). I felt so unprepared. I hadn't gotten to say goodbye to Joey. I hadn't grabbed my bags, nor had I even written my birth plan. I wasn't ready, but I guess she was.

I called my mom to let her know I was going to be induced that night. She was hoping for an induction, so she was very excited. I told her how sad and unprepared I was, and she said she'd bring Joey to me, and that when it would be time to leave, she'd make it fun for him. I was very thankful for that.

At about 7 or 8pm, they got me into my induction room (technically a postpartum room) and did a Bishop Score, which is a "test" to see how well your body would handle an induction. My score was a 5, which is the low end of good....but I had also had a baby before, so that put my chances of succeeding (not needing a c-section) higher.

They placed Cervadil after that. Cervadil is a suppository drug that is supposed to soften (or ripen) the cervix to hopefully help it dilate. I had to lay completely flat for 2 hours, and have it in for a total of 12 hours unless my water broke, or I went into labor on my own.

It was about 1am when I started to feel very uncomfortable. I had had the Cervadil in for about 4 or 5 hours. I called a nurse into my room and asked if there was anything I could do to help with the pain. She said she would check me and we could see what's going on. I was at 3 (almost 4) cm, and about 80% effaced. I had never had a more painful cervical check. I said the "f" word several times and almost cried. I actually did after she was done. I guess that was enough to count as labor, so they took out the Cervadil! That was progress! After that, I tried to get more sleep.

The next few hours were a bit of a blur. I tried so hard to sleep, and I did get a few hours so I wasn't completely exhausted. My contractions were getting very intense. I called the nurse and asked if there was a temporary medicine that would take a bit of the edge off so I could try and get more rest. She said there was Nubane, which was an IV drug that would make me feel loopy and groggy, and would last about 2 hours. I said I wanted it. She told me that she wanted to move me to an actual labor room in case I went from the 4cm to a 10 in less than an hour. We moved to the room, she gave me the IV, and it. was. amazing. I told her (in my drugged stupor) that if I was a druggie, this drug would be my choice. I asked if it was normal to feel weird (not bad just different) and she said yes, and just to close my eyes. I fell right to sleep.

She came in about 2 hours later, and asked how I was feeling. I told her I was doing okay, but I think it was starting to wear off (which made me sad haha). I told her I wanted to get out of bed and walk around, and she said that was fine. Jonathan and I went for a walk in the hall, and had to go back because I felt a little sick and dizzy. He got out the yoga/birthing ball, and I sat on that for a while. My contractions suddenly started to pick up. It was horrible. Every time I had a contraction, I would bounce on the ball, and that would help, but it just got worse. The nurses had a shift change, and my new nurses came in. I had to get back in bed for them to get my vitals and to be put on monitors. That sucked.

With every contraction I had, my body started to push on its own. I tried so hard to breathe through it, but then my body would push, and I would freak out because the nurse said if I didn't stop pushing, I'd swell up, and not be able to get her out. I was at least 7cm and in transition at this time. I kept getting scared every time a contraction came because I knew my body would push. By this time, I still hadn't had an epidural. I asked my nurse if an epidural would stop me from pushing, and she said it would. I told them I wanted one now. I didn't want one for the pain, but for our safety. The nurse said she was going to go call the anesthesiologist. It felt like forever before she got there, but it was probably only 15 minutes tops. It worked immediately, and I do not regret getting it. Had my body not been pushing on its own, I wouldn't have gotten it.

Less than 15 minutes after getting my epidural, I was 10cm and 100% effaced. She was still sitting up high, and my water hadn't broken yet, so they called the doctor. The doctor took a while to get there. When she came in, I started crying because I knew that meant I'd get to meet my baby very soon. She didn't have scrubs on, and she came over to check me. She checked me and felt my waters, and said she'd break it. She did, and it splashed all over her, on my foot, and on the floor. Everyone was a little shocked that it gushed, instead of trickled. Jonathan saw it happen and said there was about a cup of fluid that came out.

The doctor went to go put on scrubs. She told me that since baby's belly was bigger than her head, she would give me two hours tops to push her out, and that she wouldn't use a vacuum or forceps, and if it didn't work, they'd think of something else (which I'm pretty sure meant a c section). Things were really starting to happen! My nurse guessed the baby's birth time would be 11:03am. She was dead on! I pushed for 28 minutes and had a third degree tear.

Emmalyn Marie was born 11/04/14 at 11:03am. She weighed 7lb 9oz and was 20.75 inches long. Lots of black hair like her big brother and very skinny and long!

The ultrasound on Halloween said that she'd be about 8lb 8oz, and that her belly was larger than her head, and that she was chubby. The ultrasound was completely off by all accounts (except maybe the fluid levels, which was a need for induction anyway).